Wednesday, September 20, 2006

“So Little Gold for So Much Work” – Gary, Blog Appetit husband, when he realized there would only be two and a half servings of soup.

I like making soup. My husband likes eating soup. Any soup product that results in less than eight servings with something left over for the freezer (the frozen soup is henceforth somewhat confusingly known as “liquid gold”) is considered unfortunate.

This soup was designed to use my “use it or lose it" veggies: a bit less than a pint of tired cherry tomatoes; two very soft large tomatoes, and a beginning-to-wrinkle red bell pepper. I decided to make a roasted garlic and tomato soup and served it with grilled cheese and avocado sandwiches made in the panini grill. There were just enough veggies for soup for two with a bit left over, which Noah, the future pastry chef, slurped down.

(By the way, this soup was very easy to make, so Gary was a bit inaccurate in his assessment of the soup-to-work ratio.)

Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup2-3 Servings

This recipe can be easily doubled. The roasted garlic is a predominant taste, so if you are not garlic fiends like us you may want to use significantly less.

Preheat oven to 450 degreesSpray baking tray with olive oil spray or grease lightly with oil.Spread garlic and vegetables on the tray. Large tomatoes and pepper should be cut side down. Spray or lightly grease tops of vegetables.Roast, stirring garlic and cherry tomatoes occasionally until tomatoes and peppers are softened and blistered and the garlic is browned, about 25 minutes.Remove from oven and let cool a bit. Put into a large pot with any juices from the baking pan, add stock and salt and pepper. Cook over a medium heat until vegetables and garlic are cooked all the way through and are very soft.Take off the heat and puree with an immersion hand blender or in batches in a regular blender.Add chopped herbs and reheat. Serve topped with some fresh chopped basil or perhaps a bit of chopped ripe avocado.

Those of you who appreciate good chocolate might also enjoy my exploration of the San Francisco Chronicle's roundup of emerging artisian chocolatiers in the Bay area. Enjoy it all with photos and ordering information but without calories here.

From things that delight to things that go boo in the night, check out the candy frights being offered for Halloween in this article. You still have time to order if liquid candy blood, gummy fingers and peppermint "battys" are on your Halloween menu.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Noah (aka The Future Pastry Chef) is putting together a resume to apply for a food service related job. He hopes he gets one where he gets to use a knife. He has started his sophomore year of high school. When bored he bakes. Last night it was brownies at 11 p.m. From our bed, we heard him exclaim sometime later that they were "delicious." I did wonder what kind of dreams I would have going to bed with the house full of chocolate baking smells. The only dream I remember is about running for a ferry, so I don't think the chocolate wafting upstairs gave me sweet dreams!

The older one moved into his college dorm three weeks ago and started his freshman year at what has been called the best public university in the U.S. (not that I'm proud of him or anything.) He is just 20 minutes away from home, but we all treat it like intersecting universes. He has his world, we have ours and we sometimes interconnect. We are lucky he calls us often and includes us in what's going on his life and laundry. He has taken some forays into cooking and asked for a pot and a can opener. Well, it's a start.

Noche the cat misses his special someone and is making up for it by being especially affectionate to those of us who remain at home. He is sleeping in the college boy's empty bed, but who wouldn't? With a memory foam mattress and a down comforter, its the cushiest place in the house.

Friday, September 08, 2006

The Normandie was a very special ocean liner. The French Line's prestige ship combined good (Art Deco) looks and luxury appointments with top performance and was considered the greatest passenger ship of its time.

The Normandie is a dark chocolate covered buttercream candy made by See's Candies. Will it live up to the image and performance of its famous namesake? Click on over to Sugar Savvy to read my my post and rating of the Normandie.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Life might get busy here at Blog Appetit and prevent me from posting as often I would like, but there is always time for chocolate. And for writing about See's Candies once a week. See this week's contributions to The Chocolate Box at Sugar Savvy about See's tasty Dark Chocolate Maple Nut Buttercream.

A Top 100 Food Blogger

Followers

Search Blog Appetit

Loading

Blog Appetit Search

Please use the above Google custom search box as well as the Blogger search function at the top of the blog. Using both will more likely help you locate the posts you need. Or check the categories below.

The Hunger Challenge

The San Francisco Food Bank did not hold its Hunger Challenge in 2012, but you can see the Hunger Challenge 2011 posts here and 2010 posts, budget recipes and other information here.

Click here to see what I've written on that including recipes and tips for eating on a budget as part of the 2009 Hunger Challenge. I also participated in and wrote about the 2008 challenge here.

About Me

Am I a home cook with higher aspirations or a foodie who also appreciates that sometimes simpler is better? I don't know, but I do know I like to share what I cook and what I know. I've been a writer, journalist, public relations professional and marketing consultant. I like to travel and I ALWAYS have an opinion or at least a point of view. Email me at clickblogappetit AT gmail DOT com